Alexa Chung On Her New Beauty Gig And Maintaining Her Hair During Lockdown

Alexa Chung is a busy woman and not even lockdown, it seems, can slow her down. She has her own namesakefashion labelto keep going (managing its social media and keeping the design process flowing via Zoom), she's making wildly popular online hair tutorials with the help of hair guru George Northwood and - if that wasn't enough - she's kick-starting a brand new beauty gig as ambassador of 'luxury, effortless, high-performance' make-up brand Code8.

Here she speaks to Grazia's beauty editor, Annie Vischer about her new Code8 venture, maintaining her achingly on-trend hair style at home and the perils of a DIY herbal bath...

Lockdown Life

So, how is Alexa Chung riding out lockdown? 'I’m quite literally riding lockdown out, I have a bicycle. I went for quite a treacherous bike ride yesterday and nearly got run over, but other than that I’ve been doing a lot of work. We still have the business going [Alexa's fashion label ALEXACHUNG] and we’re fortunate enough to have our own e-com site, so we’re able to deliver things. I've been creating content for our brand’s Instagram and designing over Zoom. I’ve been cooking too, nothing that’s going to wow the crowd, I’m very much a starter pack kind of gal, but yesterday I made toad in the hole, which was a great success - then there was mushroom stroganoff the other day, pretty basic things. No banana bread yet though!'

At-Home Haircuts

A video filmed for renowned hairdresser George Northwood's YouTube channel shows the hair stylist talking Alexa through her first at-home haircut, and it reeled in the views. 'He said he’d send me some scissors and we decided to share the cut with everyone. I still think maybe one side’s a bit longer than the other. I go red at one point in the video when I realise I’ve cut too much off! I was genuinely shocked!' Is she planning on attempting a second trim? 'It depends how long this goes on for. I’m definitely not in any danger of superseding George and his career though. He’s been cutting my hair since I was 19. The trim he directed me through was quite fool-proof, you don’t take a lot off. My friend texted me this morning saying that she followed the video and did hers and that it worked well!'

Watch Alexa's DIY Trim

Go-To Make-Up

'Everyday make-up look wise I do a cat eye, or at least line my lash line with a pen liner. I curl my eyelashes for sure, then it’s just a lip balm vibe. In lockdown I’m like Jekyll and Hyde on the make-up front, either it’s zero make-up, or, because I’ve been doing these YouTube videos, I’ll make an effort to put a face on for them, I don’t want to scare everyone!'

A New Beauty Venture

Unbeknownst to Alexa, she'd been wearing and loving Code8 products for a while before even knowing of the brand. 'Code8 kind of crept up on me because Ciara O'Shea, a make-up artist I work with sometimes for red carpet events and shoots, had been using it on me without me noticing. When they opened the Burlington Arcade store in London they invited me down to pick some make-up. Soon after an invitation came through asking if I'd like to work with them and I met Sophia Chikovani and Nadine Ayache, the two women behind the brand, and they were super nice and chic. I remember one of them had Ann Demeulemeester or The Row boots on, and I thought oh yep, they know what they’re up to!'

Any favourites within the range? 'There's theCode8 Radiate Beauty Balm, £39, which is perfect for me because I don’t like a full-coverage foundation, mainly because I’m worried I’m not applying it right. It melts into your skin. Then they have a really great Blush Palette, £32, in a very weighted compact, it feels substantial. I’ve been using that in Rosé. It’s got a slight sheen to it and the tones are warm, anything too pinky looks bad on me, this is more of a terracotta rose shade. Because I’m lazy, I use that as a light eyeshadow as well.'

For An Instant Mood Boost

'I always turn to red lipstick for a mood boost because it’s a bold look. Whenever I’m hungover or feeling like I’m looking a bit shabby I put a red lip on. That’s always been my go-to thing. People always associate me with a cat eye but I wear a red lip just as much. Code8 have a really lovely one called Pop Art (Code8 Matte Velour Lipstick in Pop Art, £27), which is my dream red. I don’t like anything raspberry coloured, this is a real true London, pillar box, bus red. I don’t use a lip liner, it goes on quite easily without it.'

At-Home Pampering

'I love a bath, I’ve been mainly hanging out in the bath recently. I can do a long guilt-free stint in there now. There was a time when I ran out of bath oils and I tried to improvise my own herb bath. I put rosemary in it but it’s an absolute nightmare to fish out when you’re done so now I’m just sticking to the classics. I put magnesium flakes in there and hope for the best. I’ve got a lot of candles going on too. I love Le Labo’s Santal 26 Classic Scented Candle, £52, one, yeah, it's definitely a favourite.'

'I'll sometimes use a face mask, the Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Mask, £83. Other than that I love wine and watching movies. I watched one last night on Patsy Klein from the 80s. The best thing movie wise though was watch The Godfather. I’m trying to swat up on all the classic movies that you’re meant to have seen but haven’t. I watched True Romance the other night too, it’s in the same sort of ilk as Leon.' How about TV show recommendations? 'I loved Normal People, I feel like everyone did!' And books? 'I'm reading The Glossy Years by Nicholas Coleridge to remind myself that there used to be parties!'

Making Video Calls Fun

'I’ve been doing video calls with my niece that involve her picking two names out of a hat like ‘cat’ and ‘burger’ and we have to try and draw them. It’s quite good fun. I did a life drawing class the other day too. No one was naked. A friend of ours posed and we all had to draw him, it was great. You had to have rosé as well, that was crucial to the drawing experience.'

Alexa's hopped on the online fitness bandwagon too, but in a novel way. 'My friends and I have been doing group fitness classes on video calls. Not with an instructor, we just make it up. I need to do that otherwise I won’t do it, so if I’m on my own and someone says do ten squats, I’ll probably do about six. If you have your friends there with you, you do it together. Someone comes up with a routine and we work through it.'

On Loungewear

'I’m not much of a loungewear kind of gal. I look really bad in tracksuits, I look horrific, but the cashmere jumpers and slips in my line are perfect for right now. I have an old pair of ballet slippers that I’ve just been wearing around home too, that makes me feel much more elegant than wearing my Uggs!'

Shop Alexa Chung's Beauty Favourites

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